A key element of every IT manager's tool kit is a comprehensive listing of information about the software, hardware and service providers associated with his network. Home-based business owners must create a similar listing to avoid lengthy downtime when trouble occurs.

Something as simple a cable outage could wreak havoc with your workday if you don't have at-your-fingertip access to a tech support phone number and your vital information (see below)

Take time to gather the information into a single Excel spreadsheet and make sure you update the document often and print it out every time you update - after all, if your hard drive has crashed, you won't be able to access the file online.

Here are the important pieces of information to document.

1. Service providers. For every service provider you have, make sure you have a tech support number, your account number, account name and passwords. Also, mark down your contract start and end dates and any service level agreements. You should have information about your cable or DSL provider, ISP, Web hosting service, voice over IP provider, conferencing host, and the like.

2. Applications. List critical applications and their licensing information, including activation codes, and keep them with the original disk incase you have to reinstall them. Also, research the URLs associated with support and patches/updates so you can they them up to date. When I first got QuickBooks, I went through the installation process and chose a password but never wrote it down, thinking I would remember it. A few weeks later, after I had input an enormous amount of data, my program crashed. When it came back up, I was asked for my password - and of course, I had forgotten it. I tried every variation to no avail. QuickBooks offered to unlock the file for me - in five days and for a hefty fee. I ended up having to purchase a third-party application that would unlock the file for a smaller fee.

3. Security software. It's important to familiarize yourself with the various security settings in place on your system. Mark down your firewall, wireless network and anti-virus settings (you do, of course, have the encryption turned on for your wireless network, so keep that WEP key handy). That way, if you ever have a system failure, you can get these configurations back to their most protected state. Also note the expiration dates of your anti-virus and VPN software. Synch this information with your calendar so you don't miss renewing your subscriptions or changing your passwords.